On July 1st, Mars at 12 Leo opposed retrograde Saturn at 12 Aquarius and formed a T-Square with Uranus in Taurus. You astrologers know how potent this is – three powerful planets turning the screws on our collective psyche. For those of you who do not yet speak this language, let me translate.
When Mars comes into contact, with another planet, it adds energy to that’s planet’s function. The two planets form a relationship. In this case Mars is beaming his rays at Saturn directly across from him. Mars being naturally aggressive, and Saturn tending to resist, especially in fixed signs, they could end up in conflict.
On a personal level, this relationship could manifest as confrontation. It is certain that we will all confront something about which we are fixed, something we must release – an old habit of thinking, or feeling, or attitude, a bitterness, or fear, a guilt or shame that has long served its purpose.
That’s where Uranus comes in and applies the necessary impetus to overcome resistance. Uranus seeks to liberate us from fixed ideas, habits, beliefs and behaviors that dull our awareness. When we add Uranus in Taurus to the mix, anything can happen.
Modalities
The signs of the Zodiac are segmented into three modalities. Cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn – initiate change. They partition the horoscope into four quadrants and signal a shift of seasons as well as focus, from personal, to familial, to relational to institutional. Cardinal signs create structure – they are foundational.
Fixed signs ground and solidify the creations of the Cardinal signs, They integrate and transform hypotheses into paradigms. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are all fixed. While fixed signs create stability, they can lead to unconscious habits and unquestioned assumptions. The result is resistance to change. Evolution is unstoppable, however, and we must flow with it or go extinct.
The mutable signs help us let go. These planets – Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces- represent the transition between realities – the curiosity to discover what else is out there; the discipline to examine the details and seek answers within; the joy of visioning a better future; and finally the willingness to surrender to the divine plan.
Evolution occurs through this elegant process. Reality is birthed in Cardinal signs, solidified in Fixed signs, dissolved in Mutable ones. Nature doesn’t resist. It doesn’t cling to what was, it just is – a slowly evolving miracle of manifestation. Humans, however, get attached to things. Witness the refusal to believe our election was legitimate. The head-in-the-ground denial of climate change. The Saturnian stubbornness blocking the resurrection of our infrastructure and our constitutional right to vote.
But there it is – fixed Saturn, refusing to see the bigger picture, refusing to acknowledge needs and crises in a desperate effort to cling to the past and stay in control. So Uranus applies evolutionary pressure, often in unexpected ways. Even though Uranus is in Taurus, a fixed sign, it functions as an agent of change. That is its nature. And always with the goal of waking us up to a more expanded reality.
This tension between past and future, between the status quo and the forces of change makes up the context of our summer. A healthy way to navigate this season is to look at our own resistance. What change are we avoiding? Maybe it’s time to give up something that harms us or do something we’ve been putting off. Maybe our routine has stifled our creativity and we need to break out of our self-imposed prison.
For example, I’m a list-maker. Every night before bed I list out the things I need or want to do the following day. It makes me feel secure to map out my life. I used to accomplish everything on my list, but now my expectations exceed my stamina and set me up for the frustration of daily failure. My lists turn my days into chores and suck out all the joy. I’m ready for more magic and wonder in my life. I have to open up space for that. Somehow I need to break my addiction to planning my life and learn to let it happen.
That’s a small example, but I am taking a look at the many ways I attempt to control my reality. With Neptune opposing my natal Sun, I know I need to let go of control and trust the benevolence of the divine plan.
New Moon in Cancer
July kicks off with the fixed sign T-Square letting us know that the pressure is on this month. Sunday is the 4th and we celebrate our nation’s solar return. Out here in the West there will be no fireworks, at least not legal ones. With the recent heat wave, we are dry tinder. So fire prevention is in effect. It got me thinking that the reason we set off fireworks is to simulate the “rockets’ red glare,” the bloody war of independence and the conditions under which our national anthem was birthed. Perhaps it’s time to alter the form of our celebration – no longer glorifying war and reinforcing our pugilistic national spirit, but celebrating the ongoing perfecting of our Union. What would that look like – beyond sexual fantasies.
Five days later on the 9th, Sun and Moon meet up at 18 degrees of Cancer in the USA 8th House, halfway between our natal Sun and natal Mercury. The most important thing we can do this year is envision a brighter future. Believe in it. Long for it. Rejoice in its unfolding. We cannot enforce our will upon the collective, but we can create context. We can hold an energy of love, Oneness, kindness, laughter and joy, good will and gratefulness. The quality of our collective energy creates the future. Negative futures cannot manifest in higher frequencies. We can hold that vibration so what manifests is compatible with Love.
The New Moon takes place in the USA 8th House which is literally a mystery. On the physical level, the 8th House is about the consequences and creations of partnership, including assets. So on a mundane level it is associated with money-making, investing, bequeathing etc.
On another level the benefits of a partnership may manifest as spiritual growth. The 8th House has to do with unseen realities, with what lies beyond our sight, both deep within and far without. So it’s associated with death which is a crossing of boundaries, with psychic phenomena, with spiritual experiences and connections with entities or energies invisible to our consensus reality. The USA Mercury is in this house, as well as our natal North Node. Also the upcoming Venus/Mars conjunction on July 13th will take place in this house which spans the last half of Cancer and first 24 degrees of Leo – a big house with lots to explore.
Cancer is about our insecurities, our emotional sensitivity and the conditioning of our childhood when we were embedded in our birth family. Thus it carries the habits and beliefs as well as the many wounds that helped form our defensive attitudes and behaviors. July is a great opportunity for breaking old patterns and healing left over wounds that limit our freedom to trust life. The Sun and Moon square the USA natal Chiron in Aries in the 4th. So healing our wounds and tending to our home, both personal and national, are themes of this new cycle.
Chiron is opposite natal Saturn and Juno in Libra. So the New Moon forms a T-Square to Chiron in Aries and Saturn/Juno in Libra. We know that Chiron is the inner teacher. His healing and mentoring powers are activated this month. We can listen for his voice and heed his words. What needs to be healed will naturally rise to the surface. We can be on the look-out for our unresolved issues and address them. The flotsam of our past will be available. Juno is about commitment, and conjunct natal Saturn, she asks us to take responsibility for our commitments, especially in our relationships. What are we committed to? Peace, harmony, beauty, loving relationship, integrity, maturity? Those are Libran themes. Maybe optimum health or positive thinking or releasing judgments. Whatever “self-improvement” project we choose, we can set an intention and call upon to Juno to solidify our commitment.
Maybe on our nation’s birthday, we can recommit to the vision of our founders. Too many people mistake flag-waving for patriotism. The real patriot is committed to fulfilling the dream of equality, justice and forming a perfect Union in our diverse population. It’s a tall order but an ideal worth our commitment.
Venus conjunct Mars
On July 13th Mars catches up to Venus in Leo and begins a new cycle of heartfelt relationship. Hopefully we will bring this polarity of masculine and feminine energies into right relationship within our own psyches and tap into more of our personal power.
I’m taking the next two weeks off. I wish you all a safe and fun 4th of July.
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